The Carvana PPA Mesa Cup Presented by Proton DID NOT disappoint!
Many pundits (including myself) are saying this was the most competitive and entertaining event in PPA Tour history. There were so many amazing matches that I can't even talk about all of them!
Let's get into the action!
Top Storylines from Mesa
Ben and Anna Leigh lose for the first time in nearly a year
For the first time in over 340 days, Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters lost a match. The culprit? Anna Bright and Dekel Bar.
The last time Ben and Anna Leigh lost a match together was at the PPA Austin Open, on March 18th, 2024. The culprit then? Anna Bright and Andrei Daescu.
Anna Bright is the common denominator. She is the only person to beat Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters twice in the last year and a half. If there was a question before, it has surely been answered: Anna Bright is far and away the second best mixed doubles female player in the world.
Bright and Bar faced off against Waters and Johns on Saturday afternoon, in the semi-finals. The match was hugely entertaining, taking nearly an hour and a half to determine the winner.
Bright and Bar got off to a good start, with a score of 8-4 in game one. However, they hit a wall at that score, and started losing points. Johns and Waters were able to make up the deficit and took the lead at 10-9-2, with game point on their serve.
Bright and Bar managed to win three points in a row, and won 12-10.
Game two went to Johns and Waters, fairly easily, 11-7.
Game three was a different story. Going into it, it felt like every other Ben and Anna Leigh match - slow start, and then they just take over. Not so, this time.
Ben and Anna Leigh went up 5-1 quickly, with Bright and Bar struggling mightily with the serve, making quick side outs. Then they went on a run. Winning five points in a row, Bar and Bright earned the side switch at 6-5 and went into the last half of the game with the lead.
Ben and Anna Leigh were not going to give up. They made their own run, eventually going up 9-7. This is where Bar and Bright made their move, winning four straight points and won the match.
Unfortunately for Bar and Bright, the win didn’t get them a gold medal, as JW and Jorja Johnson were able to beat them on Sunday for gold.
Even though they didn’t win this one, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns are still the epitome of mixed doubles pickleball - everyone is still chasing them.
Federico Staksrud was involved in some real drama
Before Saturday, I would have said that Federico was having a rejuvenating event, after his poor performance two weeks ago in Tucson.
The first drama Federico was involved in, started on Tuesday.
About a month ago, it was announced that Federico had signed with adidas.
Luke Burton
In the first event since signing with adidas, Fed struggled mightily in Tucson. In singles, he lost in the first round to Aussie, Tom Evans. In mixed doubles, he beat Klinger/Truluck in three games with Catherine. They followed that up with a loss to Kate Fahey and Dylan Frazier. Fed withdrew from men’s doubles with an apparent injury.
The storyline headed into Mesa was - will Fed be able to compete with the adidas paddle? We still don’t know the answer, because Fed was spotted playing again with his trusty JOOLA.
Alex E. Weaver
Fed played well with the JOOLA, making the semi-finals in all three events in Mesa.
However, Saturday didn’t go well for Fed. First, he played Hunter Johnson in singles, and this was a long, contentious match.
The match took 98 minutes, which is unheard of in singles. Approximately 45 minutes of this was a replay issue, Fed taking a medical timeout, and multiple calls to head referee, Don Stanley.
The first two matches were extremely close, with Staksrud winning the first 12-10 and Hunter won the second game, 10-12.
Game two was where the drama unfolded.
Fed called a ball out, and Hunter had no free challenges. Hunter challenged the out call, and was at risk for a technical foul if he was wrong.
The replay ref said the ball was out, even though it was very in. Hunter then got a technical warning.
Hunter called in Don Stanley and appealed the out call. Stanley overturned the out call and removed the tech for Hunter.
Fed then called a medical timeout. For what, we are still not sure.
In game three, Johnson went up 6-2 at the side switch. Allegedly, this is where Staksrud made some inappropriate comments in Spanish, and the ref heard them. The ref issued a technical warning, and because Staksrud had already had one in the match (for ball abuse), this resulted in a technical foul. This resulted in an extra point for Hunter.
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At this time, Staksrud calls in Don Stanley to argue the call. Stanley upheld the call, and because he was called in and Staksrud was overturned, he was called for another technical foul. This resulted in another point for Hunter. So without playing a point, Hunter was now up 8-4.
Johnson won the match, 11-5, in the third game.
In a post match interview, Stakrud said he is targeted by referees because his is not American:
“It’s really difficult to win if I literally have to play against Hunter, as he’s a great player, and I also have to beat the refs. The refs are literally against me the whole time, so it’s tough. I don’t know, I think I just pay the price of being the non-American on the court. Honestly, that’s what it is,” he said. “Sometimes the line calls are 50/50, but today it wasn’t 50/50. He was making out calls on balls that were in, so I had to challenge literally just to get a point. So, I’m doing that and then calling balls out that actually are out, and then they’ll overturn in his favor, so it’s like I’m fighting against everybody. It’s ridiculous.”
This was the first match I have ever seen where the crowd booed a player. The Mesa crowd was not happy with Stakrud’s antics and time-wasting. This will be a talking point for a while.
This was the most entertaining event in PPA history
My favorite day of PPA Tour events is Quarterfinal Friday. There are twenty matches and they are all at the highest level humanly possible.
Usually, on Saturday, it seems like Ben and Anna Leigh just dominate the day and they and their partners cruise. Then on Sunday, the same thing happens. I know that’s not always true, but sometimes it feels that way.
Mesa was different.
On Semifinal Saturday, there were ten matches. Four of them went to three games. Every match was entertaining, except the last one.
The finals on Sunday definitely didn’t disappoint. With the doubles matches being best 3 out of 5, there were a possible 21 games to be played in the five matches.
All three doubles matches went to five games and were highly entertaining. Out of the possible 21 games to be played, 20 were. The sole match that didn’t go to a deciding last game was Ben Johns vs. Hunter Johnson, where Ben won in two.
First, The Girlies faced off against Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters. This one went to Catherine and Anna Leigh, but looked like Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright might pull it out.
This was a back and forth affair, with The Girlies winning games one and three. ALW and Catherine won game two, four and five.
Down 4-7 in game four, Anna Leigh and Catherine went on an 18-1 run to win the match.
Final scores: 4-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-0.
Next, the men’s doubles finals also went five. Alshon and Daescu were able to come out the victors over Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio, 11-5, 11-1, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7.
Alshon and Daescu actually had a match point on serve in game three, but then lost it in overtime. They showed great mental fortitude in game three. With momentum on Johns/Tardio side, Alshon and Daescu came out with a fury and won 11-7.
Brooke Buckner was next up, against Anna Leigh Waters. Brooke came out swinging, winning game one, 11-4. Brooke was up 9-4 in game two and looked like she had the match in hand. Anna Leigh pulled off a 7-0 run, winning game two, 11-9. Anna Leigh won game three, 11-5 and she won yet another singles gold.
Next, Ben beat Hunter Johnson, 12-10, 11-1. Again, this was the only match that didn’t go to a third game.
Lastly was the mixed doubles final. The Johnson siblings won game one, 11-1 and looked like they would cruise. This turned into a back and forth affair, with Dekel and Anna winning game two and game four. The Johsnons won game three.
It all came down to game five. Jorja and JW were too much, and they won game five 11-4.
The bronze medal match was made into a mockery
The PPA Tour has a slight problem with the bronze medal matches.
Most players take them very seriously and want to earn the points for a third place finish. I have watched Kate Fahey play bronze medal matches and she even played one in Mesa, against Kaitlyn Christian. She is one of the most competitive people I know, and the bronze medal match between her and Christian was intense and both gave 100% effort.
The mixed doubles bronze match was anything but intense. The match was between Catherine Parenteau/Federico Staksrud and Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns.
They made a mockery of the match - goofing off, missing shots on purpose, and definitely not taking it seriously.
The following is my opinion and I have ZERO insider info related to this
I highly doubt these four players wanted to play a bronze medal match after playing some very difficult matches throughout the day. In those circumstances, a team has usually withdrawn, and the other team earns the bronze. The Johns brothers were known to do this a few times in 2024.
However, if I had to guess, I assume if one of the teams wanted to withdraw, I think they would have received a fine. So instead, this bronze medal match took place.
It gives off similar vibes to Marshawn Lynch’s Superbowl interview 10 years ago
The question becomes this: which is a worse look for the PPA Tour - a team withdrawing from a bronze match, or a bronze match that looks like this?
The PPA Tour introduced post match interviews with media
This was a great step in the right direction, in terms of social media content and telling player stories.
I think Michelle McMahon, Hannah Johns, Dave Fleming, Matt Manasse, and Kamryn Blackwood, Adam Stone, and others, do a great job asking questions in post match interviews on court.
However, they only get two or three questions, and they keep most questions very neutral.
Having players sit down and answer 4-7 minutes worth of questions from multiple media members helps fans get to know the players better. And that is a VERY good thing.
A few examples from the weekend:
Pablo Tellez and Dylan Frazier argue over who takes out the trash more
Federico Staksrud looks up to Lebron James in the NBA
Ben Johns talked about his interest in padel and how it relates to pickleball
Dylan Frazier jokingly asks a question as a “media member”
Even if this trend doesn’t work at every tour stop, I loved the idea and hope to see it more at the Progressive draws!
Other storylines
Hayden Patriquin (almost) got fined $2,500 for a targeting infringement in the first event after the announcement
Right before the Carvana PPA Mesa Cup began, the UPA announced a targeting rule:
Alex E. Weaver
Essentially, recklessly targeting a player above the shoulder area is now a fineable offense and if the referee calls a targeting infraction, the minimum fine is $2,500.
In the Round of 16 Men's Doubles, we almost saw the first instance of the targeting rule.
At 10-5 in the third game, Hayden hit a dead dink approximately 75mph at Wyatt Stone's shoulder. Don Stanley called targeting quickly, but also very quickly reversed the call. Since it wasn't above the shoulders, this was the correct call.
Travis Rettenmaier filed the first paddle challenge in 2025
I am going to admit, I didn't think this was possible. I thought that every paddle in the main draw was tested and passed, prior to play. All the players play the main draw with those approved stickers on their paddles.
However, apparently at Cup and Slam level events, testing only begins at the Round of 32?
Rettenmaier and Allyce Jones faced off against Eric Roddy and Liz Truluck in the Round of 64 in mixed doubles. Truluck and Roddy won the match 11-4, 11-6.
According to the UPA-A testing protocols, the paddle was sent to the Pickle Pro Labs to be tested. The result should be published within a week. As of publishing this article, no announcement has been made.
Ramifications of the challenge:
- If the paddle fails: Truluck and Roddy will forfeit the win and the PPA Points associated with it
- If the paddle passes: Rettenmaier will be fined $1,000 for initiating a challenge and having the paddle fail
Final Results
Women’s Singles
🥇 Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Brooke Buckner
🥉 Kate Fahey
Men’s Singles
🥇 Ben Johns
🥈 Hunter Johnson
🥉 Federico Staksrud
Mixed Doubles
🥇 Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson
🥈 Anna Bright/Dekel Bar
🥉 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns
Women’s Doubles
🥇 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright
🥉 Vivian Glozman/Jorja Johnson
Men’s Doubles
🥇 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu
🥈 Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud
🥉 Pablo Tellez/Dylan Frazier
